Journal of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders

Publication Policies

1. Publication Ethics and Ethical Standards

Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and scientific integrity. All stages of the publication process are conducted in accordance with the principles of transparency, honesty, and accountability. The journal adheres to the guidelines of COPE, ICMJE, and other internationally accepted ethical standards.

Authors Submit only original, unpublished work; ensure data accuracy and reproducibility; disclose funding and conflicts of interest; obtain ethics approval and informed consent when required; protect patient confidentiality.
Reviewers Treat manuscripts as confidential; provide objective evaluations; declare conflicts of interest; refrain from using unpublished information for personal advantage.
Editors Ensure a fair and unbiased review process; base decisions solely on scientific merit; manage conflicts transparently; take appropriate action in cases of suspected misconduct.
Misconduct Allegations are investigated per COPE flowcharts. Actions may include author notification, rejection, correction, retraction, or an expression of concern.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are original, accurate, ethically conducted, and prepared in accordance with the journal's policies and internationally accepted standards.

Reporting Standards

  • Original research must present an accurate and complete account of the work performed and results obtained, followed by an objective discussion.
  • Manuscripts must include sufficient methodological detail to allow others to replicate the work.
  • Review articles must be accurate, objective, and comprehensive. Editorials and opinion pieces must be clearly identified as such.
  • Manuscripts must comply with applicable reporting guidelines (e.g., CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, CARE) as recommended by the EQUATOR Network.

During and After Peer Review

  • Authors must cooperate fully with editors and reviewers, addressing all comments promptly with a point-by-point response.
  • Significant errors discovered post-publication must be reported to the journal promptly.
  • Authors must cooperate in issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern when necessary.
  • Non-compliance may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or restrictions on future submissions.

3. Authorship Criteria and Responsibilities

Authorship criteria follow the recommendations of ICMJE. All four criteria must be met:

  • Substantial contributions to conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation
  • Drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content
  • Final approval of the version to be published
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work

Unacceptable Authorship Practices

  • Guest authorship — listed without meaningful contribution
  • Ghost authorship — qualifying contributors left unacknowledged
  • Gift authorship — honorary listing without contribution
  • Post-submission authorship changes without written consent of all authors and Editor-in-Chief approval

Contributors not meeting authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all listed authors meet the criteria and that no eligible contributor has been omitted.

4. Conflict of Interest Policy

Full transparency is required regarding any relationships or activities that could influence the design, conduct, reporting, or interpretation of research. All potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed at submission.

Disclosures Include

  • Employment or consultancy relationships
  • Financial interests, including share ownership
  • Grants, sponsorships, or other funding sources
  • Intellectual property rights (patents, royalties)
  • Personal, professional, or institutional relationships
  • Advisory roles or participation in boards/committees
No Conflict Statement If no conflicts exist, authors must explicitly state: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest."

Editors and reviewers must also declare conflicts and recuse themselves when such conflicts exist. Failure to disclose may result in correction, retraction, institutional notification, or restrictions on future submissions.

5. Funding Disclosure Policy

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research and manuscript preparation. Funding disclosures must include the name of the funding organization(s), grant numbers or project identifiers, and the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

No Funding Statement If no funding was received, authors must explicitly state: "The authors declare that no funding was received for this study."

In-kind support (equipment, materials, software, services) must also be disclosed. Failure to disclose funding sources may result in correction, retraction, or institutional notification.

6. Plagiarism and Similarity Check Policy

All submitted manuscripts undergo plagiarism and similarity screening using recognized detection software (e.g., iThenticate) prior to peer review. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • Direct copying of text, tables, or figures without proper citation
  • Substantial similarity to previously published works
  • Self-plagiarism or redundant publication without acknowledgment
  • Paraphrasing without attribution or presenting others' ideas as original

Similarity reports are assessed based on overall percentage, nature and location of similar text, proper citation, and whether similarity reflects legitimate reuse or constitutes plagiarism. Severe or intentional plagiarism may result in rejection, institutional notification, or retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.

7. Duplicate and Redundant Publication Policy

Manuscripts that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere are not accepted.

Definitions

  • Duplicate publication — the same research findings published in more than one journal without appropriate cross-referencing.
  • Redundant publication — substantial overlap in data, results, or interpretations with previously published work, even when wording differs.
  • Salami slicing — dividing a single research project into multiple smaller publications with minimal additional scientific value.

Authors must disclose any related or potentially overlapping publications at the time of submission. Secondary publications (e.g., translations, extended analyses) may be considered if the overlap is fully disclosed, the original is properly cited, and the new manuscript provides substantial new data or insight.

8. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent Policy

All submitted manuscripts must comply with internationally accepted ethical standards. Ethics committee or IRB approval is mandatory for studies involving:

  • Clinical or experimental studies involving human participants
  • Prospective or retrospective studies using patient data or medical records
  • Survey, questionnaire, interview, or focus group studies
  • Research involving human biological materials
  • Animal studies

Authors must state the name of the approving ethics committee, approval number, and date of approval in the manuscript.

Studies Not Requiring Ethics Approval Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative and scoping reviews, bibliometric analyses, theoretical or methodological studies, and in silico studies using only publicly accessible databases are exempt. Authors must include a statement in the manuscript explaining why approval was not required.
Case Reports Ethics committee approval is generally not required for single case reports; however, written informed consent must be obtained from the patient, and all identifying information must be fully anonymized. For case series involving multiple patients, ethics committee approval is required.

9. Human and Animal Rights Policy

All research involving human participants or animals must be conducted in accordance with internationally accepted ethical standards.

Human Subjects

Studies must respect the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of all individuals. Vulnerable populations must be afforded special protection. Ethical approval from an appropriate ethics committee or IRB must be obtained and documented in the manuscript.

Animal Studies

Research involving animals must comply with national and international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals. Authors must state that animal welfare regulations were followed and that the study received approval from a recognized ethics committee or IRB.

10. Clinical Trial Registration Policy

Prospective registration of all clinical trials in a publicly accessible registry acceptable to the WHO or ICMJE is required. Clinical trials must be registered prior to enrollment of the first participant. The manuscript must clearly state the name of the registry and the registration number. Acceptable registries include ClinicalTrials.gov and other WHO-recognized primary registries.

Unregistered Trials Manuscripts reporting unregistered or retrospectively registered clinical trials may be rejected unless a justified explanation is provided and accepted by the editorial team.

11. Reporting Guidelines Policy

Authors are required to adhere to internationally recognized reporting guidelines relevant to their study design. Authors must submit the relevant checklist and flow diagram alongside the manuscript.

  • CONSORT — randomized controlled trials (checklist + flow diagram)
  • PRISMA — systematic reviews and meta-analyses (checklist + flow diagram)
  • STROBE — observational studies: cohort, case-control, cross-sectional
  • CARE — case reports

Manuscripts that do not adhere to required reporting guidelines may be returned for revision or rejected.

12. Data Sharing and Research Transparency Policy

The journal is committed to promoting transparency, reproducibility, and openness in research. Authors are encouraged to make underlying data, materials, and protocols available whenever possible.

Data Availability Statement

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement describing whether and how the data supporting the study can be accessed — via public repositories, institutional databases, or upon reasonable request. When data cannot be shared due to confidentiality, legal, or ethical constraints, authors must clearly state the reason.

Open Practices

  • Sharing code, software, and analysis scripts
  • Providing access to supplementary materials and protocols
  • Using standardized reporting guidelines appropriate for the study design
  • Reporting all prespecified outcomes and disclosing deviations from protocols

Underlying data must remain accessible to qualified professionals for at least 10 years post-publication, subject to participant confidentiality and legal/proprietary restrictions.

13. Image Integrity and Manipulation Policy

All images must accurately represent the original data. Any form of manipulation that alters, misrepresents, or could mislead readers is strictly prohibited. Acceptable adjustments include uniform modifications to brightness, contrast, or color balance applied to the entire image, provided these do not distort scientific content and are disclosed when appropriate.

Editorial Actions Suspected inappropriate image manipulation is evaluated per COPE guidelines and may result in: request for original unprocessed data, request for clarification, manuscript rejection, or article retraction.

14. Handling of Misconduct

All allegations of research and publication misconduct are taken seriously and investigated following COPE principles and flowcharts. Misconduct includes:

  • Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism)
  • Data fabrication or falsification
  • Duplicate or redundant publication
  • Unethical research practices
  • Inappropriate authorship (guest, gift, or ghost)
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest
  • Manipulation of the peer review process

When a concern is raised, an initial assessment is conducted. If warranted, the corresponding author is contacted for explanation and documentation. All investigations are conducted confidentially, fairly, and without prejudice. Depending on severity, actions may include correction, expression of concern, retraction, or institutional notification. Retractions and corrections are permanently linked to the original article. Authors are expected to cooperate fully; failure to do so may result in rejection or retraction.

15. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use and Disclosure Policy

The journal recognizes the potential benefits of AI tools in manuscript preparation while prioritizing transparency, scientific integrity, and accountability.

Permitted Uses

  • Grammar correction and sentence restructuring
  • Clarity enhancement and readability improvement
  • Formatting and language editing

Prohibited Uses

  • Generating or fabricating data
  • Performing statistical analysis or interpreting results
  • Creating or manipulating figures, images, or graphs
  • Drafting scientific content or making substantive intellectual contributions
  • Writing or rewriting substantial parts of the manuscript without human oversight
Disclosure Requirements Authors must disclose: the name of the AI tool used (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini), the specific purpose, and the extent of use. This information should be included as an AI Disclosure statement at the end of the manuscript. AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully accountable for accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content.

Failure to disclose AI use or misuse may lead to revision requests, editorial notices, manuscript rejection, retraction, or institutional notification in cases of serious ethical violation.

16. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Policy

The journal is firmly committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) throughout all stages of the editorial, peer review, and publication processes. DEIA principles guide editorial decision-making, reviewer selection, and author engagement.

Equity in Evaluation All manuscripts are evaluated solely on scientific quality, originality, and relevance. No discrimination is made based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, or religious background.
Inclusive Submissions Submissions from researchers across diverse geographic regions and historically underrepresented groups are actively encouraged. Manuscripts addressing health disparities and equity in healthcare are particularly welcomed.
Diverse Editorial Team Diversity across disciplines, geographic regions, career stages, and perspectives is prioritized in the editorial board and reviewer pool. Compositions are periodically reviewed to identify gaps.
Accessibility Published content aims to be accessible to readers with disabilities, adhering where feasible to recognized digital accessibility standards. Clear language and inclusive communication practices are encouraged.

All concerns related to DEIA are treated seriously, handled confidentially, and investigated in accordance with COPE principles. Policies are periodically reviewed to reflect emerging standards and global developments in equitable scholarly publishing.